REDUCTIONS IN REAL ESTATE SETTLEMENT PROCEDURES ACT OF 1974 REGULATORY BURDENS.

SEC. 2103. REDUCTIONS IN REAL ESTATE SETTLEMENT PROCEDURES ACT OF 1974 REGULATORY BURDENS. (a) Unnecessary Disclosure.— Section 6(a) of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act of 1974 (12 U.S.C. 2605(a)) is amended to read as follows: “(a) Disclosure to Applicant Relating to Assignment, Sale, or Transfer of Loan Servicing.— Each person who makes a federally related mortgage loan shall disclose to each person who applies for the loan, at the time of application for the loan, whether the servicing of the loan may be assigned, sold, or transferred to any other person at any time while the loan is outstanding.”. (b) Consistency of Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act and Truth in Lending Act Exemption of Business Loans.— Section 7 of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act of 1974 (12 U.S.C. 2606) is amended— (1) by striking “This Act” and inserting the following: “(a) In General.— This Act”; and (2) by adding at the end the following new subsection: 110 STAT. 3009–400 “(b) Interpretation.— In prescribing regulations under section 19(a), the Secretary shall ensure that, with respect to subsection (a) of this section, the exemption for credit transactions involving extensions of credit primarily for business, commercial, or agricultural purposes, as provided in section 7(1) of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act of 1974 shall be the same as the exemption for such credit transactions under section 104(1) of the Truth in Lending Act.”. (c) Redesignation of Controlled Business Arrangements as Affiliated Business Arrangements.— The Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act of 1974 (12 U.S.C. 2601 et seq.) is amended— (1) in section 3(7), by striking “controlled business arrangement” and inserting “affiliated business arrangement”; and (2) in subsections (c)(4) and (d)(6) of section 8, by striking “controlled business arrangements” and inserting “affiliated business arrangements”. (d) Disclosures by Telephone or Electronic Media.— Section 8(c)(4) of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act of 1974 (12 U.S.C. 2607(c)(4)(A)) is amended by striking subparagraph (A) and inserting the following “(A) a disclosure is made of the existence of such an arrangement to the person being referred and, in connection with such referral, such person is provided a written estimate of the charge or range of charges generally made by the provider to which the person is referred (i) in the case of a face-to-face referral or a referral made in writing or by electronic media, at or before the time of the referral (and compliance with this requirement in such case may be evidenced by a notation in a written, electronic, or similar system of records maintained in the regular course of business); (ii) in the case of a referral made by telephone, within 3 business days after the referral by telephone, (and in such case an abbreviated verbal disclosure of the existence of the arrangement and the fact that a written disclosure will be provided within 3 business days shall be made to the person being referred during the telephone referral); or (iii) in the case of a referral by a lender (including a referral by a lender to an affiliated lender), at the time the estimates required under section 5(c) are provided (notwithstanding clause (i) or (ii)); and any required written receipt of such disclosure (without regard to the manner of the disclosure under clause (i), (ii), or (iii)) may be obtained at the closing or settlement (except that a person making a face-to-face referral who provides the written disclosure at or before the time of the referral shall attempt to obtain any required written receipt of such disclosure at such time and if the person being referred chooses not to acknowledge the receipt of the disclosure at that time, that fact shall be noted in the written, electronic, or similar system of records maintained in the regular course of business by the person making the referral),”. (e) Limitation on Claims Arising From Violations of Requirements for Servicing Mortgages and Administering Escrow Accounts.— Section 16 of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act of 1974 (12 U.S.C. 2614) is amended— (1) by striking “section 8 or 9” and inserting “section 6, 8, or 9”; and (2) by striking “within one year” and inserting “within 3 years in the case of a violation of section 6 and 1 year in the case of a violation of section 8 or 9”. 110 STAT. 3009–401 (f) Delay of Effectiveness of Recent Final Regulation Relating to Payments to Employees.— Section 19 of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act of 1974 (12 U.S.C. 2617) is amended by adding at the end the following new subsection: “(d) Delay of Effectiveness of Recent Final Regulation Relating to Payments to Employees.— “(1) In general.— The amendment to part 3500 of title 24 of the Code of Federal Regulations contained in the final regulation prescribed by the Secretary and published in the Federal Register on June 7, 1996, which will, as of the effective date of such amendment— “(A) eliminate the exemption for payments by an employer to employees of such employer for referral activities which is currently codified as section 3500.14(g)(1)(vii) of such title 24; and “(B) replace such exemption with a more limited exemption in new clauses (vii), (viii), and (ix) of section 3500.14 of such title 24, shall not take effect before July 31, 1997. “(2) Continuation of prior rule.— The regulation codified as section 3500.14(g)(1)(vii) of title 24 of the Code of Federal Regulations, relating to employer-employee payments, as in effect on May 1, 1996, shall remain in effect until the date the amendment referred to in paragraph (1) takes effect in accordance with such paragraph. “(3) Public notice of effective date.— The Secretary shall provide public notice of the date on which the amendment referred to in paragraph (1) will take effect in accordance with such paragraph not less than 90 days and not more than 180 days before such effective date.”. (g) Technical and Conforming Amendments.— (1) Section 4(a) of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act of 1974 (12 U.S.C. 2603(a)) is amended by striking “Federal Home Loan Bank Board” and inserting “Director of the Office of Thrift Supervision”. (2) Section 10(c)(1)(C) of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act of 1974 (12 U.S.C. 2609(c)(1)(C)) is amended by striking “Not later than the expiration of the 90-day period beginning on the date of the enactment of the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act, the” and inserting “The”. (h) Repeal of Obsolete Provisions.— The Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act of 1974 (12 U.S.C. 2601 et seq.) is amended by striking sections 13,14 and 15.